Days before Myanmar’s February 1 coup last year, mixed signals from the military over its planned course of action had prominent observers and journalists in the Southeast Asian nation scrambling for answers.With murmurs circulating that the military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, was deeply unhappy with civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi because of supposed “voter fraud” in the preceding November’s polls, local journalists on January 26 pressed his top spokesman Zaw Min Tun for a “yes or no” on whether…
Germany’s position on nuclear power and natural gas and its impact on the EU’s taxonomy system
The German government opposes the classification of nuclear power as a climate and environmentally friendly energy source, but accepts electricity generation with natural gas as an environmentally sustainable transitional technology under certain conditions.
China-Australia relations: Beijing’s new envoy to Canberra Xiao Qian is tough, but no ‘wolf warrior’. Will he make a difference?
China’s new ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian may have extended an olive branch by expressing a willingness to repair strained relations between his country and Australia, but the jury is out on whether his appointment will be enough to turn things around.While some analysts saw Xiao’s appointment as a tactical, though subtle, shift away from China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy of recent times, others cautioned that big differences between Beijing and Canberra remained.Xiao, who arrived in…
Malaysia sends aircraft to help Thailand clear up oil slick threatening to damage environment
An aircraft from a company specialising in recoveries from oil spills arrived Thursday from Malaysia to join an urgent effort to clean up an oil slick before it could hit beaches in eastern Thailand, officials said.The C-130 joined other planes, ships and a helicopter deployed by the Thai navy to contain the damage from The Star Petroleum Refining Public Company’s oil that leaked Tuesday night from a mooring station in the Gulf of Thailand.Information from Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space…
‘Real risk’ of reputational damage to retailers amid fashion industry ‘greenwashing’ probe
A review launched by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into ‘greenwashing’ in the UK fashion industry has highlighted the need for companies to take the issue seriously in light of the “real risk” of reputational damage from CMA sanctions, according to one expert.
US warns firms to be ‘extremely wary’ over doing business in Myanmar
The US government warned companies on Wednesday to be extremely wary of doing business in Myanmar, citing the risks of being linked to a military government involved in lawlessness and human rights abuse.Those involved with businesses controlled by the military regime “run the risk of engaging in conduct that may expose them to significant reputational, financial, and legal risks,” including breaking sanctions and money-laundering laws, according to a statement from six cabinet-level…
UN Security Council to meet on Friday over Myanmar crisis
The UN Security Council will meet on Friday with a minister from Asean chair Cambodia to discuss the chaotic situation in Myanmar, one year after a coup ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, diplomatic sources said.Cambodia currently heads the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and its Asean envoy to Myanmar, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, will attend the closed-door talks along with United Nations special envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer, the sources told Agence France-Presse.The minister is…
Regulate automated vehicles in Britain, say government legal advisers
Manufacturers or developers of autonomous vehicles could face regulatory fines if things go wrong when their vehicles are in self-driving mode and in use on public roads in Britain in future, according to new proposals for legislative reform.
Incident reporting changes planned in UK cyber law reform
Plans to expand the type of cybersecurity incidents that must be reported to UK authorities under the Network and Information Security (NIS) Regulations have been outlined by the UK government.
Twitter sees record number of government demands to remove content, with Japan and Russia leading pack
Twitter said governments around the world made requests to remove content from a record number of user accounts between January and June last year, in data to be released by the social media company on Tuesday.The platform said governments made 43,387 legal demands for the removal of content from 196,878 accounts in the six-month period, according to data in its latest transparency report seen by Reuters.Twitter said this was the largest number of accounts ever targeted with government removal…